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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23763958">Somewhere Over The Rainbow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganrules/pseuds/morganrules'>morganrules</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Joker (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Crying, Fluff and Smut, Healing, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Masturbation, Mental Health Issues, Praise Kink, Romance, Safer Sex, Therapy mentioned, cigarettes mentioned, painted nails</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:55:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,825</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23763958</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganrules/pseuds/morganrules</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>So, this is a commission. I never thought I would write something for the 2019’s Joker movie, but here we are. The person who requested this was very specific so, this will be an AU that takes a couple of months after Arthur leaves his mother at the hospital. In this universe, Arthur keeps taking his medicine and didn’t murder anyone, so that means Joker never existed. His mother was the only reason he avoided coming out, but now that she’s away, he’s free to be himself. Arthur is also in the process of healing and in the meantime, finds himself a boyfriend and moves in. Every now and then he still has negative thoughts, but his therapist helps a lot and now he works at the city’s library.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arthur Fleck/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Somewhere Over The Rainbow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm shook, this is a character I never thought I would write for to begin with, but it was such a lovely commission that I just couldn't say no. Keep in mind that this is an AU, which means that a couple of canon events from the 2019's movie never happened here. This is not OOC though, watch the movie again and realize that Arthur was a very sweet and sensitive man before his fall from grace.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It happened again last night. Arthur couldn’t stop muttering things that John simply couldn’t understand. His nightmares happened way less often now, but every now and then, some memories from his past would haunt his mind, so it wasn’t the first time he woke up crying and trembling, sometimes laughing without meaning it.</p><p>“Haha…I’m s-sorry… Uh”- Arthur cried and laughed upon their bed, trying his best to not choke unintentionally.</p><p>“Hey… Arthur. It’s all right, I’m here…”- A deep voice called from the other side of the bed.</p><p>“I’m s-sorry, Jonh… Oh God I…. Hahaha... Uh...”- Arthur swallowed as the tears came down streaming down his face.</p><p>“Shhh… Easy now, tiger. I’m here.”- John smiled as he gently caressed his boyfriend’s hair.</p><p>Arthur closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath while trying to hold back the laughter and the tears at the same time. It’s been months since the last time he laughed like this, so it was probably all due to his latest nightmare.</p><p>“John, I’m sorry.”- Arthur chastised himself one more time.</p><p>“Shh. No need to ask apologies for me. Never, all right? It’s ok. Your John’s here. No one can harm you. Breath with me.”- His voice was soft, collected.</p><p>“All right, John.”- Arthur nodded, counting three seconds to breathe in and six seconds to breath out.</p><p>“That’s it. Follow my lead.” – John took a breath and waited until his boyfriend did the same for three times.</p><p>Arthur shut his eyes again, taking a last deep breath before opening his beautiful green eyes to stare at his lover’s gentle face. He smiled for the first that that morning, leading his hands towards his boyfriend’s chest, softly caressing him.</p><p>“Thank you, John.”- Arthur bit his lips. He desperately wanted a cigarette.</p><p>“Oh? Haven’t seen that you’ve painted your nails red. I dig it… Suits you.”- John praises, guiding one of Arthur’s hands towards his mouth to press a gentle kiss upon it.</p><p>“Felt like painting them… Hm, I need a smoke.”- Arthur looked apologetic as he grabbed his pack of cigarettes, lighting one before taking a deep drag.</p><p>John only stared at him with nothing but pure love in his eyes, tracing soft patterns upon his boyfriend’s thighs and thinking about the great night they had aside from the nightmare thing.</p><p>He often worried about Arthur, especially because it’s been weeks since his boyfriend stopped smoking, so the nightmare must have been really bad, he supposed.</p><p>“Arty. Wanna talk about…?”- John cooed softly.</p><p>“Yeah, I really want.”- Arthur nodded; cigarette safely held between his fingers.</p><p>“I’m listening.”- John smiled, giving his boyfriend a bit of personal space.</p><p>“It was awful, John. My mom was yelling at m-me, saying awful t-things about me, about what we have. She s-said I was not worthy. That I was M-Mr. Wayne’s unwanted child.” – Arthur’s voice trembled.</p><p>“Well, the old hag is gone now. She can’t harm you here. I won’t ever let that happen.”- John assured.</p><p>“Oh, I know it was just a s-silly nightmare, but she still gets so much under my skin…My therapy helps, but it's hard to get rid of her...”- Arthur puffed on some more.</p><p>“This is not silly. She messed up with your mind and I get it, Arty, but she has no power here. You’re safe”.”- John stared right into Arthur’s eyes.</p><p>“Fuck… I’m a mess. I’m sorry.”- Arthur sighed, dragging his smoke once more.</p><p>“You’re not a mess, come here.”- John took the other man into his arms, holding him tightly. “Uh, fuck. I think you’re late for work, though. You suck at being on time.”</p><p>“Screw you...”- Arthur smiled, messing with his boyfriend’s hair, pressing a couple of pecks upon his lips before leaving their bed.</p><p>John smiled lazily, still slow and easy with sleep even though he’d waken up for a while now, he loved nuzzling against his pillow to enjoy a bit of a morning nap while Arthur went to work.</p><p>Both had proper jobs, however, since Arthur had to wake up a bit earlier to go to the library, John could take his time, since he only had the noon shift at a restaurant near their house.</p><p>Whistling a happy classic song, Arthur took a very nice shower, washing his hair and his body, making sure to clean a bit of evidence of what they’ve done last night. Sometimes he still felt like he was daydreaming.</p><p>Someone like him couldn’t have such an amazing life. There wasn’t a single day he felt like nothing of that was real, not his relationship with John, neither the apartment their shared nor his new life. It all felt just a like a beautiful dream.</p><p>Every now and then he would pinch himself hard, just to make sure that everything was in the right place and that his new life was for real.</p><p>As he finished his bath a couple of minutes after, he stared at the mirror, noticing that his old dark circles were almost gone now but the only thing that still bothered him was the scar upon his upper lips, but he couldn’t help the blush, just reminding of how many kisses he received there.</p><p>=====</p><p>
  <strong>A few hours later</strong>
</p><p>Arthur smiled as a new student entered his library. Well technically, it was the city’s library but honestly, he was the Head Research Librarian, which meant that the whole place was like a second home.</p><p>The kids loved him and the silly magic tricks he would throw every once in a while when schools’ made visits. Arthur was very well known for that and the neighborhood appreciated his love for the children.</p><p>He was so glad he left his awful part of the town with John and now, no one knew about his past. It was really a fresh start for him, so Arthur always did his best to please everyone there.</p><p>“Arty! Can you do ‘the thing’?” – One of the kids approached his table.</p><p>“Uh, I don’t know, Peter. You’re talking about this?”- Arthur dressed his clown nose up before pretending to go down the imaginary escalator, just so he could come up again.</p><p>All the kids near the table smiled and clapped happily over the little trick, each one of them, except for a new kid that just arrived with a stoic feature, followed by a tall butler.</p><p>“Oh, look who’s here. Welcome, Bruce.” – Arthur greeted the kid.</p><p>“Hi.”- The kid sounded cold.</p><p>“Mr. Fleck, I know we’ve started with the wrong foot, but Master Wayne wanted to see one of your tricks, if you may.” – The buttler took the lead, knowing that the kid wouldn’t say that.</p><p>“Well, of course!”- Arthur smiled, grabbing his magic stick, swinging it left and right until the flowers appeared, giving it as a gift to the boy.</p><p>It was the first time Bruce genuinely smiled over one of Arthur’s tricks and that made the adult feel nothing but pure bliss.</p><p>“We’re going now.”- Bruce announced as he turned his feet, walking away with the stick in his hands.</p><p>“Thank you, Mr. Fleck.”- Alfred smiled before leaving the store with his boss.</p><p>The rest of the day was quite boring since the library didn’t receive many visits, aside from a group of rude teenagers who wanted to make a fuzz but decided to stop once Arthur started crying.</p><p>By noon, Arthur stretched himself catlike and grabbed his cute packed lunch to sit at the library’s restroom, tuning in the radio to listen to some music and finally relax. He really wanted to talk with John, but he couldn’t until his boyfriend’s had a shift break.</p><p>He ate everything with a delightful ‘hum’ sound because John was an amazing cook and always made sure to prepare his boyfriend’s lunch with great care.</p><p>When Arthur finished his lunch, he still had forty minutes left of lunch break, so he cleaned all his dishes and went straight to the bathroom.</p><p>There, he sat at one of the toilets, taking a deep breath before undoing his belt, undressing his brown pants slowly, palming at his covered cock. Memories from last night hit him like a train and he desperately wanted a release.</p><p>He took his erection out of the little fly of his boxers, admiring it as he held it with his freshly painted nails, starting to squeeze himself slowly. Huffing, he pleasured himself; his soft hands going back and forth in a paced rhythm.</p><p>Arthur imagined that those were John’s hands touching him as he squeezed himself some more. Slowly, his movements became faster and faster until he could no longer take it, coming nonstop inside his hands, trying his best to muffle his moans.</p><p>His breath was quite uneven, but he made his best to clean himself up and dress his pants again before leaving the toilet seat. While washing his hands, he couldn’t help but wonder if John was thinking about him too.</p><p>====</p><p>At Vinci’s, one of the most renowned Italian restaurants from Gotham City, John made his best to host the new clients. Since it was Friday, it was his turn to check the lists and host guests to their respective tables.</p><p>His shift barely started, but he already missed Arthur. No one would believe that someone like him would fall head over heels over someone like the comedian, but alas, here he was, completely in love.</p><p>They’ve met at the same restaurant, but in a not so graceful manner at all. Arthur was just kicked out of the clown’s team, he had no money to eat so he ran to the other side of town, crying his heart out until he arrived at the ‘Vinci’s door.</p><p>He was starving, he didn’t make any money that whole month. He didn’t mean to beg, he would just ask for a warm meal, but he accidentally fell right upon a trash can and suddenly, his whole life changed for good.</p><p>
  <strong> <em>==Flashback ==</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Someone definitely heard the noise and came running from the kitchen’s door, noticing the sad figure crying on the floor; trash all over his body.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey! Are you hurt? Is everything all right?” – The man offered the victim a hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m s-sorry… I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me!” – Arthur cried as if he didn’t feel humiliated enough.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What? No, of course not. Why would I hurt you?”- The man cooed softly, helping the poor man to get up.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know. I’m sorry, today was awful. People are awful and I…”- Arthur seared his lips as the man tried to clean the mess.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Shh… It’s all right. I’m John by the way. Are you hungry? Can I offer you something?”- John smiled as he took a banana’s peel out of the other’s man hair.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, you’re too kind. I don’t think I…”- Arthur started speaking but stopped right away.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey, come here. What’s your name?” – John asked as he gently patted the other man on the shoulders.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Arthur. Arthur Fleck.”- The man replied shyly, trying to avoid the eye contact.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Arthur, nice to meet you. Come with me. I can offer you a warm meal and a blanket if you need.”- The man really thought Arthur was homeless.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“No need for a blanket. I do have a home, you know. I just lost my job, is all.”- Arthur sighed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that… Anyways, forget about it, okay? Come with me.” – John smiled, offering a hand to Arthur, who took it hesitantly. </em>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>==End of Flashback==</em> </strong>
</p><p>It’s been six months since they’ve met for the first time and John could only look back thinking of how far they’ve come. At the beginning, Arthur wasn’t very open about his true self, he still lived with his mother, repressing everything he felt, but as his friendship with John developed more and more, slowly, Arthur stripped himself away from the shame.</p><p>They started flirting at the second month and by the third, they had their first time together at one of the cheap motels from Gotham. It was Arthur’s first experience outside of his mother’s apartment, which felt like absolute freedom.</p><p>Now that they were together for six months, John had no doubt that it was for real and that he’d found exactly who he was looking for after so many years. He wouldn’t change a thing, but if somehow, he could take Arthur’s pain away with his bare hands, he would.</p><p>John’s parents weren’t fans of the comedian at first glance. They were very accepting of John’s sexuality, but they feared Arthur’s condition. It was their ableism towards the comedian that made John take a step forward and buy an apartment.</p><p>They’ve been happy ever since, with all the ups and downs of every single relationship, after all, John was still trying to learn how to deal with Arthur’s issues just like Arthur himself was slowly starting to deal with his own trauma a bit better with the help of therapy.</p><p>Smiling, John fixed his papers, receiving a new couple at the restaurant. He couldn’t wait until he could finally go to the library and give Arthur a ride back home.  </p><p>======</p><p>Arthur couldn’t wait to see John and his bright smiling face, fall into his arms and kiss him. Just the thought of touching his boyfriend made him blush like a teenage boy with his first crush.</p><p>It was past six when Arthur finally called it a day, closing the library and having a smoke outside, standing at the area where John always picked him up. The wait was always the hardest part, though.</p><p>The librarian was thinking about the past, when he didn’t know how to be himself around people and how hard it was for him to speak up, but now that he was true to his own self, he couldn’t imagine going back to that scared man.</p><p>A few minutes passed when Arthur heard a very known voice coming on his way. He looked up surprised, his face suddenly lit up and he smiled brightly as John gave him a big hug. They kissed as if they haven’t seen each other for at least a month, occasionally breaking away once they saw a few people walking nearby.</p><p>Gotham wasn’t the most welcoming place for people who didn’t conform to the society’s expectations, so in order to be safe, they quickly walked towards John’s bike so they could finally go home; there they would be safe.</p><p>The ride home was quiet, but not cold whatsoever since Arthur embraced John’s waist and was supporting his chest upon his boyfriend’s back. Both wore protective helmets with a nice painting done by Arthur himself.</p><p>It was almost ten when John and Arthur reached their apartment. Their neighborhood was already quiet, so they did their best to avoid making a lot of noise. John parked the bike at their building and helped his boyfriend to hop off before taking his own helmet off.</p><p>“Finally. Home sweet home. Are you all right?”- John asked, messing his own hair to get it out of his face.</p><p>“Yeah.” – Arthur blushed, shyly reaching his hand out so he could hold hands with the other man.</p><p>Once they jumped on the elevator, they couldn’t count the seconds until they finally reached their apartment. Arthur sighed as soon as he stepped inside, taking a deep breath as John switched all the lights on.</p><p>“Can’t believe we’re finally home. Do you mind If I order some Chinese takeout? Didn’t have time to let our dinner ready before work”- John asked, loosing up his tie and taking off his jacket.</p><p>“Of course. Anything you want. I’m going to the bathroom now.”- Arthur told as he heads towards their room.</p><p>Their dinner didn’t take long to arrive, specially because they lived near one of Gotham’s favorite Chinese restaurant and since the owners knew John personally, they would always make an extra special treat for the couple.</p><p>Both had their meal at the couch while watching one of Chaplin’s classic movies on the TV, which was very amusing to Arthur. Even though he gave up on the comedy career, comedy itself still had a special place in his heart.</p><p>After they were completely done with their food, they took a very nice bubble bath together, listening to some relaxing songs at the radio and once they were finally done, they brushed their teeth, dressed their pajamas and jumped to their bed.</p><p>It was all part of their little game; they didn’t need clothes at all, but both loved to undress each other before making love, as the librarian liked to say.</p><p>Arthur wore a cute green pajama set with little purple bats printed upon it, while John wore a simple white shirt and a pair of grey boxers.</p><p>“John… I’ve missed you…”- Arthur confessed as John pressed a couple of pecks upon his neck.</p><p>“Missed you too.”- John agreed, laying upon Arthur’s body while holding his lovers’ wrists against the pillow.</p><p>“Want you inside me. Couldn’t stop thinking about you at work today…”- The librarian blushed.</p><p>“Yeah? Me too…”-John said, caressing his cock over his boxers.</p><p>Arthur bit his lips, trying hard to keep focused, otherwise, his laughter would come again and ruin their mood. He took a deep breath as John unbuttoned the top of his pajamas, pressing kisses and love bites upon his pale chest.</p><p>“Oh John…”- Arthur sounded very sweet.</p><p>John didn’t waste time, taking his own shirt and boxers off, never stopping to give attention to his boyfriend’s chest, sometimes biting at his nipples, sometimes kissing his ribs.</p><p>Soon their lips met again, "I fucking love you, Arty." John said in between kisses.</p><p>John kissed him all the way down to his belly button and Arthur began moaning, making his boyfriend snort before finally taking his pajamas pants off.</p><p>“Please John. Want you in my mouth”- Arthur huffed softly, changing positions so he could kneel between his boyfriend’s legs.</p><p>Arthur licked his own lips, batting his eyes in a funny ‘doey eyed’ way to his boyfriend, who couldn’t help but snort again, however, soon his chuckles became a deep moan when the librarian started stroke John’s cock slowly before licking the head.</p><p>“Fuck, Arty…That’s good.”- John moaned, gulping as his boyfriend took him into his mouth.</p><p>Slowly, Arthur took John’s cock fully into his mouth, bobbing his head up and down carefully, knowing where and how exactly to move. It was even funny to think about it, because Arthur practiced for months before having his first time.</p><p>John used to come fast, so it wasn’t a surprise when his soft hands touched Arthur’s hair, tugging at it gently to the back, because he wanted to last a little longer this time.</p><p>“Hmmf…”- Arthur chuckled sweetly, cleaning the corners of his mouth with his fingers.</p><p>“Can you grab me one of those condoms I bought this week?”- John asked.</p><p>“Of course.”- The librarian smiled, opening John’s bag to grab a few condoms and a lube.</p><p>Arthur promptly laid down on their bed, resting his head upon his comfy pillow, slightly opening his legs so John could fit right between his thighs.</p><p>John ran his fingers through Arthur's hair as his mouth kissed all around the librarian’s belly, wetting his fingers with a nice amount of lube, introducing one finger carefully to massage his boyfriend properly.</p><p>He took Arthur’s cock in one hand and inserted two fingers into him slowly, making the librarian moan. He found Arthur’s most sensitive spot and began to stroke him with his fingers while jerking him off with an average speed for both. The librarian closed his eyes and moaned loudly. It was impossible to hold back.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful… Fuck… Look at that. I couldn’t love you more.”- John praised, knowing how it pushed all of his boyfriend’s buttons.</p><p>“Oh t-thank you, love. Thank you… Hmmff…”- Arthur closed his eyes</p><p>After Arthur’s first orgasm, John's lubed up his own cock; thrusting down in one smooth motion in his boyfriend’s highly sensitive ass.</p><p>Arthur instinctively wrapped his legs around John, digging his red nails into the small of his boyfriend’s back. The thrusting started slowly, carefully because John didn’t want to hurt the other man at all.</p><p>They made love slowly and intentionally, staring at each other’s eyes as John guided himself in and out, Arthur’s well manicured nails dig harder upon John’s back.</p><p>Together they danced in unison; the only sound of their room being the one of the bed creaking and their uneven breaths matching. At one point, John started to move himself a bit harder and quicker than before, thrusting himself in to the hilt.</p><p>“Fuck… Fuck, you’re so tight…”- John moaned, thrusting deeper with time.</p><p>“Oh god… John… Fuck… So deep, John…”- Arthur almost felt like crying; he was in a complete state of euphoria.</p><p>“Hmmff... Fucking hell…”- John moaned after a particular hard thrust, he was balls deep inside his boyfriend and he wanted to go further.</p><p>“Harder…Hmmfff… Harder, come on…Hmmff…”- Arthur moaned louder, demanding to be ravished.</p><p>“Hmmf...Fuck… I’m gonna cum… Fuck... Holy fuuuck!” – John felt the build up in his entire groin area. He felt the condom ripping so he quickly pulled out and came on Arthur's chest instead of inside him.</p><p>“Hmmfff… Damnit, John… Hmmfff…”- Arthur always took a little longer to come, but when he did, he gasped in relief, almost feeling like crying because he felt so good.</p><p>“Gosh, that was hot… Fuck…”- John sighed with a smile, finally letting his own body fall upon his boyfriend’s.</p><p>“So good, John…”-Arthur was starting to feel anxious and John could clearly tell, because quickly he rolled off his body, giving his boyfriend some space.</p><p>“Sorry… Are you all right?”- John asked, pressing kisses all over Arthur’s body.</p><p>“I’m fine, John. Just forgot to take my meds. Will you excuse me?”- Arthur felt absolutely embarrassed but left the bed to take his medicine privately at their bathroom.</p><p>“No problem.”- John shouted from their bed. That was one of the best nights they had together.</p><p>Arthur took a pee and brushed his teeth before going back to their bed as John himself left their bed to use the bathroom as well, gasping in relief once he peed too. They both dressed up in their pajamas again and laid on bed, making out a bit more, kissing each other deeply as they held hands.</p><p>“I love you, John. Thank you for everything.”- Arthur smiled softly, caressing his lover’s face with nothing but pure love in his gaze.</p><p>“I love you too, Arty. Don’t worry, let’s get some sleep.”- John smiled, falling asleep almost immediately. He was such a heavy sleeper.</p><p>Arthur bit his lips again, feeling loved and most of all, feeling safe. He wasn’t unlovable after all; he was desired and for the first time ever, he ignored the voices in his head. He didn’t need them anymore.</p><p>
  <strong>The End.</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, that's it &lt;3 Hope you enjoyed reading this. Sometimes I do accept a few writing prompts and commisions, so if you ever want something like this, let me know.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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